Retaining wall



Nov. 10, 1959 L. o. PEARSON RETAINING WALL Filed Nov. 4, 1955 awn/rap100/: O pf/mso/v iqfa.

Elblllr" T OR/VE Y5 aar R TAINING .WALL

Louis, 0. Pearson, San Lorenzo, Calif. Appli cation, Nvernber4,.Serial.No. 544,889 z cl ai ns. (Cl. 61 35) This invention relates toconcrete structures, ,andis more particularly directed towards a wallconstruction for retaining sloping banks of earth or the like againstdownward shifting or movement.

Retaining walls are widely used at the lower end of a slope to preventthe earth from gravit-a'lly moving down the slope and possibly onto ahouse or level area adjacentfsuch lower end. Heretofore, such walls wereconstructed out of any suitable material such as concrete, woodenboardsor the like, and primarily consisted of a relatively high planar wallconstruction extending in a generally ,horizontal directionpwith' theback surface thereofadapted to be positioned against thehill or bank forpreventing downward movement of the latter. Notwithstanding the wideusage of such an arrangement, this type of conventional retaining wallpossesses numerous disadvantagesand shortcomings, among them being thehigh cost of construction, their unsightly appearance, and dangerousattributes.

Accord ingly, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide aretaining wall arrangement which isex'treme- 1y economical inconstruction, and which is stronger and safer'than conventional types ofsuch walls.

Another object of my'in'vention is to provide a retaining wall which isconstructed in a plurality of relatively lowj'courses' or ti'e'rswhereby the large height of acouventi'onal retaining wall may hedispensed with.

"Afu'rthenobjectof the inventions to provide a retaining wall ashereinabove described which is extremely ornamental in appearance,permits terracing and planting of shrubs, flowers, trees, and the likealong the slope, and which, due to minimum height requirements, is saferand stronger than previously used systems for hillside retaining.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawing accom panying and forming part of the specification. Itis to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaid drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a hillside equipped with theretaining wall arrangement of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially in theplane indicated by line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front perspective view, similar to Figure 1, butillustrating a modified form of retaining wall systern.

As hereinabove described, a conventional vertical retaining wall isusually in the neighborhood of from 4 to 6 feet and upward in height,and is adapted to retain a sloping hillside extending upwardly from therear surface thereof. However, it will be appreciated that with such aconstruction, a relatively large mass of movable earth must be confinedby a single planar structure and 2,911,794 Patente 1- 1 59 accordingly agreat deal of strength and reinforcement mustbe' built into the wall toafford adequate protection. When this is done, it will be appreciatedthat such 'a Wall p'os'sesseslittle if any beauty, and usually preventspossible use of the hillside beyond the wall as the height of the wallpresents a hazard for any one walking on the hillside. i i

The foregoing difllculties have been obviated by means of the wall ofthe present invention where, instead "of the unsightly and massivesingle wall, I provide a retaining system in which the wall height iskept to a minimu'rn but which is effective by providing a plurality ofinterconnected courses or tiers of retaining members.

:With reference to the drawing, a hillside or bank is generallyindicated by the numeral '6 which slopes upwardlyffromthe lower portionof the bank 7 to an upper portion 8. In conventional construction asingle vertical wall of considerable heightwould be positioned adjacentthe lower portion 7 for retaining the massive body of earth againstdownward'sliding jrnovementfln accordance with the present teaching,'inplace of the single massive'structure there is provided a plurality ofretaining members which'extend generally transversely 'offthe hill'slopeso as to define aplurality of courses or tiers designated by thenumerals 9 through 12 respectively. As-shown in Figures 1 and 2 of thedrawing, each of the tiers is constructed in an extremely simple thoughstrong manner with means interconnecting adjacent tiersffor optimumretaining qualities." Taking tier 10, for example, which is typical ofall of'the tiers or courses it will't'be noted that the sarne'does'notlie in asingle "transverse planeacrossthe' hillside but insteadffollowsa generally zigzag path with the lower edge 'surface thereof be'ingdisposed in a generally horizontal plane. The foregoing is effected 'byusing a 'giljura'lity of panelssuch ast ho'se illustrated at is, 17,13,19 and 'zoj'vtith" all of the panels being integrally cast 'or'otherwise formed to provide "a unitary wallc'onstructiori'. Each of thepanelsjisipreferably tapered along the length" thereof sofasfto fo'r nia trapezoid havinga base portion 2 6,"a ldngitudinallyfex-'tending'up'pe'r edge pd'rtionjZTQa vertically'extending edge 28'atoneendtliereof'and' a shorterwerticaFedge 29*at the other end thereof.When adjacent members such as 17 and 18 are cast, it will be seen thatthe longer edges 28 will be positioned together with a large includedobtuse angle formed between the front faces of the panels, and with theshorter ends 29 positioned downhill from the higher end 28. Although theexact angular relationship will depend upon the grade of the hillside 6it will be appreciated that with such an arrangement the base portions26 may allbe positioned substantially along a horizontal path andlikewise, notwithstanding the downward taper of the upper edge 27, assuch edges extend upwardly of the hill the juncture of each set ofadjacent panels in a single course at this upper portion will likewiselie along a generally horizontal path vertically above the base 26. Aswill be observed from the drawing, the adjacent tiers 9 and 11, relativeto tier 10, are arranged so that the corners of minimum height arepositioned in alignment with the corners of maximum height of the tier10 so that after the respective tiers are installed, the corners 29 ofeach course will overlie and be supported on the corners 28 of asubjacent tier. In order to effect such securing at each juncture of thepanel there is provided vertically extending reinforcing bars 31 whichsecure the respective tiers together against relative displacement.Obvously, in erecting the retaining wall of the instant invention thelowermost tier 9 is first erected by using any suitable forms forproviding the zigzag arrangement of the respective panels. Suitablehorizontally extending reinforcing bars 32 may extend through the panelsso as to insure the unitary action of each tier. Byway of example, eachone of the respective panels may be approximately 4 feet long, 6 inchesin depth, 1 foot at its shallow end at 29 and 2 feet at its high end 28.It will be appreciated that these dimensions are merely illustrative butwith dimensions in this general vicinity, the wall is low and there islittle danger of cracking the same upon back filling behind the wall.After back filling to the level of the upper edges 27 of the panels thenext course or tier 10 is ready to be poured and this is poured in asimilar manner except that the respective panels are longitudinallystaggered relative to the subjacent course so as to position the minimumheight panel juncture 29 immediately over the maximum height paneljuncture 28 of the subjacent tier so that the rod 31 may secure the sametogether. Once again, after the concrete has set, the forms may bestripped, the back filling behind the tier 10 finished and tiers 11 and12, etc. subsequently formed. Upon completion of the structure it willbe seen that there are a plurality of generally diamond shaped terraces36 formed between pairs of adjacent panel members in each tier, and suchterraces are not only decorative but also ofier ideal plantingconditions for shrubs, ivy, flowers or any other vegetation.

Notwithstanding the fact that a number of tiers are used in place of asingle retaining wall, the height of the individual tiers substantiallyreduces the labor cost in constructing the same and it has been foundthat the use of such a tier arrangement is not only stronger than thesingle wall but in many instances can be constructed more economically.

Each of the panels may likewise be provided with a suitable enlargedfootingwhich is positioned in the soil to obtain the necessarystability.

In Figure 3 a slightly modified form of retaining wall is disclosedwherein each of the tiers 41, 42 and 43 comprise continuous sinuouspanels extending transversely across the hill slope. Once again, therespective adjacent panels are positioned so that the downhill curvedportion 44 of each panel immediately overlies the uphill portion 46 of asubjacent panel with a reinforcing rod 47 passing through each of thepanels in this area. Although in this embodiment the panels are shown ofa constant height, it would of course be possible to have the panelsarranged with the portions 46 of a maximum height and portions 44 at aminimum height in a manner 4. more similar to that shown in Figures 1and 2 of the drawing. However, once again there is providedthe pluralityof generally diamond-shaped terraces 48 which may be utilized in themanner above described.

From the foregoing description it should be appreciated that theretaining wall of the instant invention is extremely simple inconstruction, strong in operation and attractive in appearance.

What is claimed is:

1. A retaining wall construction for a hill, comprising a plurality ofwall courses, each of said courses extending generally transversely tothe slope of said hill and lying in a generally horizontal plane, eachof said courses de fining a vertical wall extending substantiallyhorizontally in a generally sinuous pattern with the points of maximumcurvature being alternately directed laterally inwardly and outwardlyrelative to the length thereof, each course being laterally offset withthe area of maximum downhill curvature of one course being supported onthe area of maximum inward curvature of a subjacent course, therebyproviding a plurality of open hill areas between adjacent courses.

2. A retaining wall construction for a hill comprising a plurality ofwall courses, each of said courses extending in a serpentine manneralong a horizontal path generally transversely to the slope of saidhill, said courses being vertically disposed and generally laterallyspaced from each other, and each course having longitudinally spacedportions supported on and secured to longitudinally spaced portions of asubjacent course thereby providing a plurality of open hill areasbetween adjacent courses.

References Cited in the file of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS647,322 Newburg Apr. 10, 1900 936,843 Wood Oct. 12, 1909 1,073,278Mosher Sept. 16, 1913 1,179,121 McGillivray Apr. 11, 1916 2,138,037 LaneNov. 29, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 179,836 Germany Jan. 3, 1907 656,692France 1929 291,959 Italy 1931

